March 26th, 2006 | The lowdown by Emily Johnson

Winter Blues in Nowy Sacz

Living in a major city anywhere in the world can an overwhelming experience, but what about living in a small, isolated town in southern Poland, in the middle of winter?
The gloomy winter of Nowy Sacz - where does one begin?

How about with snow? It snows almost every day, which is great for the nearby ski resorts (the closest being Krynicia about 30min south). However, it makes getting around a little on the tricky side. If you are lucky enough to have a car you’d better watch out for the other drivers and the slick roads. And if you are unfortunate enough to drive a Fiat, well it was nice knowing you, but one accident and you and your car are goners. These tiny little cars squish like unshelled insects under combat boots.

Roads are very seldom plowed, and it’s even rarer to find salt, or gravel to prevent skidding. So you just have to make a slippery game of it and wish yourself luck. Oh, and if you have the choice when picking taxis, always go for the Mercedes or Audi. They fare much better on the winter roads, and will not have you fearing for your life at every turn.

As for walking, which is my preference (except on those blistery cold days), you still need heed on the cautious side. Can you say ‘black ice”? It’s everywhere, and if you don’t like the unplowed roads, well you’re going to just love the sidewalk situation. Ok, I did see some men out shoveling a few days ago, but that’s once in over three months of snow.
However treacherous the conditions may be for getting around, it doesn’t ever seem to deter the local people from movement. On any given wintry day in Nowy Sacz you can find little old men braving the environment on rickety bikes that have somehow been ridden for over fifty years. You will undoubtedly also see women, both young and old prancing around in high heeled boots. (I have tried this with little success, so these women must have had tons of practice).

On most cold days you can look forward to six inch thick solidly packed snow to trudge wherever it is you have to go, sometimes even sprinkled with coal dust to prevent slipping. On the few days when it is warm enough for some of this snow to melt, you better hope you have some galoshes! Talk about messy, messy, messy!

Ok, so with all this snow it must be really cold, right? Well, I’ve lived through three fridged Minnesota winters and I promise this has proven to be much more tolerable. However, the one problem about being ‘nestled in the heart of the Beskid Sadecki Mountains’ is the wind that slices through the valley, assaulting you with all the pleasure of a nice slap in the face. No fun.

Unlike much of the U.S. however, towns in Poland tend not to blast the heat. So, getting warm can become a bit of a challenge. Restaurants and taverns, have heavy curtains placed directly on the inside of their thick front doors, to keep the cold out, and warmth in. Most of these establishments in Nowy Sacz are underground in cellars which can either keep the heat in quite nicely or can be rather drafty, it all depends on the building. The best way to stay warm on a cold winter night in Poland is to do like the Polish, and drink!

Vodka that is. There are all kinds of vodka to be found here. From your grandfather’s regular old vodka to cherry infused vodka, spicy vodka, oak vodka, and my favorite, Zubrówka which is derived from buffalo grass and is fabulous with apple juice and a couple ice cubes. If vodka isn’t your niche, there is also hot spiced wine and even hot beer spruced up with ‘sok’ (that’s Polish for juice).

A local favorite of the young women here is a frequent trip to the Solarium (tanning salon). I only recommend this if you already have a bit of color, for those radiant UV lights on milky white shin can be more of a regrettable experience then that one night stand you had on your last holiday.
My advice, dress warm; hat, gloves, scarf, maybe long underwear if you’re going to be out long and treat yourself to a nice drink at the end of the day to get the blood flowing back into your fingers and toes and restore that healthy glow.